One Blade, Asura

### Quickly ending the battle was Long Yi's only thought now, and also what he had to do.

Although the power of ghosts and gods had brought a tremendous increase to all his abilities, his stamina was also steadily draining away.

"Using Soru earlier had already left me with barely any stamina. Now that I've summoned Blade Soul Kazan, I can only hold out for half a minute."

Long Yi gripped the sword hilt so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. His brow was deeply furrowed, and his expression was so grim it seemed ready to drip water.

Staring fixedly at Gubo, who was hiding behind the many bandits, his heart sank as he kept turning the matter over in his mind.

If I calculate the time, I can only make one strike if I launch an attack from here to there. After that strike, they'll react, so I have to put everything into it. This is my only chance to win. Life and death will be decided by this one sword!

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as Long Yi calmed his breath and focused his mind. After one strike, victory or defeat would be known.

"Long Yi! Get back here!"

"Kid, don't force yourself! Leave the rest to us!"

"Everyone! Let's fight the bandits!"

The townspeople's shouts gradually faded from Long Yi's ears. Once he had prepared to decide the battle with a single strike, he entered a wondrous state.

No thoughts, no self. The clamor of the world slowly receded.

The only things he could hear were his racing heartbeat and heavy breathing.

"Hey! What the hell are you useless trash waiting for?! Open fire! Shoot that ghost dead!"

The ghostly silhouette that had suddenly appeared behind Long Yi gave Gubo quite a fright. The cunning bandit leader shrank his neck and carefully hid behind his men, tearing open his voice until it cracked with panic as he shouted for them to open fire at once.

He had long heard that there were people in this world who gained all manner of powerful abilities through Devil Fruits, but he had never expected to encounter one in such a remote town.

"No matter how powerful he is, he's just a damn ghost! We have guns! Open fire and turn him into a sieve!"

Hearing Gubo's harsh cries, the bandits snapped out of it as well. Looking at the terrifying phantom of Kazan behind Long Yi, they could not help swallowing. Their hearts sank, but they no longer hesitated, pulling their triggers with savage expressions.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

Muzzle flashes flickered in rapid succession, filling the air with the pungent smell of gunpowder. Flames roared within the barrels, sending bullet after bullet screaming forth.

Time seemed to freeze in an instant.

After the gunfire erupted, the townspeople's panic stood in stark contrast to the bandits' vicious expressions.

But what Long Yi felt was different from everyone else.

The moment he saw the bandits fire, his pupils contracted and his body tensed instantly. Before he could even exhale the stale breath in his chest, he shot forward like a cannonball.

That explosive burst of speed was even faster than the bandits' bullets.

Braving the storm of gunfire, Long Yi charged forward!

Before him were bandits who robbed, looted, and committed every evil imaginable. Behind him were timid but kind-hearted townspeople.

Long Yi's sword-wielding figure raced between the two sides. Against the roar of gunfire and the streaking bullets, the scene looked like a painting rich with meaning.

His attention was focused to the utmost. In Long Yi's eyes, the bullets flying toward him seemed to have come to a standstill.

His gaze sharpened, and instinctively, he wanted to dodge the bullets. But after suddenly thinking of something, he instead raised his katana before his vital points.

Long Yi could not let the bullets aimed at him strike those innocent townspeople.

Leave it to fate! Block!

Muttering inwardly, Long Yi gritted his teeth and continued charging ahead.

"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"

In but an instant, Long Yi used the Block skill to deflect three lethal attacks.

But more bullets struck various parts of Long Yi's body, just as the bandits had hoped. Piercing pain surged back into his brain, nearly making him pass out.

Yet Long Yi's unyielding will supported him, and he did not fall. After being wounded by the gunfire, he merely let out a few muffled grunts before continuing his charge, his speed barely slowing at all.

From the bandits opening fire, to the townspeople's cries of alarm, to Long Yi being shot and blood spraying through the air, everything happened in the blink of an eye.

"Stop him! Stop him!"

Gubo's voice carried a sob. At this point, the dreadful premonition in his heart seemed to have become reality. Feeling Long Yi's killing intent locked onto him from beginning to end, the bandit leader finally understood his opponent's goal.

He wants to take my head! He wants to kill me!

His heart screamed wildly. Under the lock of that killing intent, every cell in Gubo's body desperately warned him to flee.

But fear had completely consumed him, leaving his body as stiff as scrap iron. This ruthless and cunning bandit leader became a helpless quail in the face of a true life-and-death crisis, knowing only to hide behind his many subordinates and tremble uncontrollably.

"Ah!"

The piercing pain mixed with astonishing killing intent brewed in Long Yi's chest, becoming a thunderous roar.

Though many bandit lackeys blocked his path, Long Yi paid them no heed. Under their horrified gazes, he used the momentum of his charge and exhausted the last of his strength. His legs suddenly exploded with force as he vaulted over the human wall formed by the bandits and leaped high into the air.

"Die!"

His killing intent locked on his target, sword point aimed downward. Carrying deadly sharpness, Long Yi's body became like a meteor falling from the sky. This sword technique was one of the skills inherited from the system: Silver Light Falling Blade.

He reached Gubo in an instant at lightning speed. With an enraged roar, Long Yi viciously kicked both feet into Gubo's shoulders, forcing him to fall backward. Before Gubo could react or raise a defense, the sharp blade in Long Yi's hand plunged savagely into his heart.

His final wail caught in his throat. Gubo's unfocused eyes still held an unwillingness to die as life rapidly drained from his body.

This bandit leader, who had brought disaster to the region, ultimately died beneath Long Yi's blade and received the retribution he deserved.

"Boom!"

The immense impact kicked up a cloud of dust, concealing Long Yi and Gubo from sight.

The bandits and townspeople stood with mouths agape, their eyes nearly popping from their sockets. Only two or three seconds had passed from Long Yi's first move to his successful beheading, and before their minds could even react, that youth who always wore a bright smile had completed an instant kill that seemed impossible.

"Haa..."

Within the dust cloud, Long Yi pulled the blade from where it had been pinned in Gubo's chest and finally exhaled the breath he had been holding.

He smiled in relief as he looked at the lifeless corpse beneath his feet, feeling an urge to topple backward. He was too exhausted.

Before everyone's eyes, the dust slowly dispersed. Long Yi still stood tall with his sword in hand. Meanwhile, Gubo, the once-arrogant bandit leader, stared wide-eyed in terror and unwillingness, utterly devoid of life—a dead soul beneath Long Yi's sword.

"Boss Gubo is dead!"

"The boss was killed!"

The bandits cried out, their faces still filled with disbelief. Trembling, they backed away from Long Yi. Their fear of him had nearly taken physical form, and that blood-soaked youth became the greatest nightmare in their hearts.

"Get lost."

Long Yi's gaze was calm, and his tone indifferent. Yet those casual words rang in the bandits' ears like a great bell, shaking their very souls.

"Clatter." "Clang."

Muskets and weapons fell to the ground. The bandits cried out in terror, completely frightened out of their wits by Long Yi, afraid that the god of death's next target would be them. Like a nest of panicked rabbits, the infamous bandits mounted their horses and vanished from the streets of Crocker Town in the span of a few blinks.

I can't fall yet. Those bandits haven't gone far...

The effects of blood loss grew stronger and stronger. Long Yi gritted his teeth and remained standing with his sword in hand. He did not know how long passed before his vision finally went dark and he lost all consciousness.

Under the moonlight, Long Yi was drenched in blood, like an Asura reborn. The lingering killing intent around him and his gruesome gunshot wounds had made the townspeople forget his true age, forget that he was only a youth.

With reverent gazes, the townspeople looked at Long Yi standing in the pool of blood and instinctively bowed their heads slightly, showing their respect for the strong.

"Hey! What are you all standing around for?! Save him!"

Overwhelmed by emotion, the townspeople had failed to notice that Long Yi had already passed out while standing. Only after the bearded shopkeeper reminded them did they rush in a panic toward Long Yi, who had fainted from excessive blood loss.

Dawn pierced the night, and the sun rose above the horizon.

Gentle morning light shone upon Long Yi's face, covered in wounds and blood, and upon the townspeople shouting in alarm and scrambling about.

It was light.